One of the state’s oldest breweries is for sale. Here’s how it got started.

Trinity Brewhouse in Providence is for sale. (Photo courtesy of Trinity Brewhouse)

By now, you’ve probably heard the news that Trinity Brewhouse, one of the oldest breweries in Rhode Island, is for sale.

The downtown staple was around long before Rhode Island’s craft beer renaissance of the 2010s, and is the oldest locally owned brewpub in the state. It opened in 1994 within a few months of Union Station Brewery, which originally operated as part of the John Harvard’s chain.

Owner Josh Miller, who also owns a stake in the iconic Hot Club, discussed the sale and the brewpub’s origins with Rhode Island Monthly this week.

“I don’t think anything is the same as it was in the ’90s, but I think the basics have stayed the same,” he says. “We brew the best beer we can, I think we still have a really good reputation for the quality of our beer, and the same for our food.”

In the early ’90s, he says, the legislation that allowed brewpubs in Rhode Island had only recently passed the General Assembly. Miller, who’d been involved in the restaurant industry since 1975, had his eye on the downtown space, but wanted something different from a traditional restaurant. A friend encouraged him to look into the brewpub model, which at the time was taking off in other states.

“I was looking for something I could use that space for that would attract people downtown in a unique and interesting way rather than just having another restaurant,” he says. “And that’s basically how the idea of doing a brewpub rather than something else in that location came about.”

From the beginning, the brewery was closely linked with Trinity Repertory Company next door. Miller’s mother, Diane Miller (later Reynolds), was one of the first stage managers at the theater, and Miller obtained formal permission to use the Trinity name after the theater. His vision, he says, was to create a space where performers and theatergoers could congregate after a show. At one point, there was even discussion of creating a physical link between the two establishments, but that never came to pass.

“My older brother was the first Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol,” he adds.

Equally important to that vision was the beer. Though he had limited experience with craft beer, Miller brought in experts to run the brewing side of the business. The first brewer at Trinity was Kurt Musselman, who’d also worked at Harpoon Brewery and John Harvard’s. The second was Sean Larkin, who went on to Rhode Island brewing fame at Narragansett Beer and Revival Brewing Co.

Today, Trinity navigates that space between brewery and restaurant, with its busy location between Trinity Rep and the AMP keeping the booths stocked with a hungry pre- and post-event crowd. Though he names Screaming Viking as one of his favorite beers on tap (a wheat beer brewed with ginger and cardamom), Miller says many patrons would be surprised to learn he rarely drinks. The longtime bar and restaurant owner says he enjoys working with the details around the brews including the ingredients, label art and distribution.

“I appreciate all the fringe elements of it as much as the beer itself,” he says.

As for the brewery’s future, Miller says he’s already been contacted by potential buyers, most of whom seem interested in maintaining the property as a brewpub. The sale includes the building, along with the furniture, fixtures, equipment and real estate. The restaurant has a furnished basement and deck for a total of 261 seats, and a location close to some of the most popular downtown venues.

Until then, Miller says, he plans to keep the brewpub open.

“There is no intention to close at any point during this period,” he says.

This story on Trinity Brewhouse, Rhode Island Monthly’s first, appeared in the magazine in April 2005.

RELATED ARTICLES

On Tap: The Latest Brewery and Distillery News In Rhode Island

UPDATED: New Food and Wine Festival is Coming to Providence this March

An Irish Pub-themed Brewery Is Coming to Bristol